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Objective Theory of Values

The objective theory of values is the only moral theory incompatible with rule
by force. Capitalism is the only system based implicitly on an objective theory
of values—and the historic tragedy is that this has never been made explicit.

If one knows that the good is objective—i.e., determined by the nature of
reality, but to be discovered by man’s mind—one knows that an attempt to
achieve the good by physical force is a monstrous contradiction which negates
morality at its root by destroying man’s capacity to recognize the good, i.e.,
his capacity to value. Force invalidates and paralyzes a man’s judgment,
demanding that he act against it, thus rendering him morally impotent. A value
which one is forced to accept at the price of surrendering one’s mind, is not a
value to anyone; the forcibly mindless can neither judge nor choose nor value.
An attempt to achieve the good by force is like an attempt to provide a man
with a picture gallery at the price of cutting out his eyes. Values cannot
exist (cannot be valued) outside the full context of a man’s life, needs,
goals, and knowledge.

The free market represents the social application of an objective theory of
values. Since values are to be discovered by man’s mind, men must be free to
discover them—to think, to study, to translate their knowledge into physical
form, to offer their products for trade, to judge them, and to choose, be it
material goods or ideas, a loaf of bread or a philosophical treatise. Since
values are established contextually, every man must judge for himself, in the
context of his own knowledge, goals, and interests. Since values are determined
by the nature of reality, it is reality that serves as men’s ultimate arbiter:
if a man’s judgment is right, the rewards are his; if it is wrong, he is his
only victim.